Premier League legend sacked by National League club perilously close to relegation

AFC Fylde have parted company with Kevin Phillips after just four months in charge, the National League side have confirmed.

The former Sunderland striker leaves with the club sitting 22nd in the fifth tier, having failed to transform their fortunes since his arrival as head coach in October.

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During his time in charge, Phillips oversaw just five wins in 20 matches, with the run of results leaving Fylde a point adrift of safety.

A club statement revealed Fylde had parted ways with Phillips by ‘mutual consent’, and that assistant David Longwell would oversee the team temporarily while they search for a new head coach.

It read: “AFC Fylde can confirm that the club and Head Coach Kevin Phillips have mutually agreed to part ways with immediate effect.

“We would like to thank Kevin for his efforts and wish him well for the future.

“Current assistant coach David Longwell will take charge of the team on an interim basis until we announce a permanent replacement.”

Phillips’ final match in the dugout ended in defeat, with Fylde losing 2-1 to relegation rivals Boston United on Tuesday night.

The Englishman’s departure would appear to have come as a surprise to him, having spoken of his intent to turn things around in the Coasters’ next match, away to Altrincham on Saturday.

Speaking after the Boston loss, Phillips said: “We’re not happy about it, but the beauty of this this game is that we’ve only got three days to wait to try and put it right.

“We’ve got a tough game coming up on Saturday and we’ve got to dust ourselves down, we’ve got to go again, that’s all we can do.

“I said to the group, the players that were in there, it’s only us in this room that can get us out of this mess. 

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“And we have to find solutions and that’s what we’ll be trying to do from now until Saturday.”

Fylde was Phillips’ third job in management, with his previous role coming in charge of fellow National League outfit Hartlepool.

There, he took the side from 16th when he was appointed to 12th place after seven wins in 16 games in charge, before leaving in April last year.

Prior to that, Phillips’ first managerial position came in January 2022 with Northern Premier League side South Shields.

The ex-England international guided the club to promotion in his second season, but then departed in April 2023.

Phillips has also previously enjoyed roles at Leicester, Derby and Stoke, acting as a member of the first-team coaching set-up at each club.

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His transition into coaching followed a hugely successful 23-year playing career, making his breakthrough in the professional game with Watford in 1994, where he scored 25 goals in 65 games.

Phillips’ breakthrough came in his subsequent six-year spell at Sunderland, where he scored 130 goals, and picked up the Golden Boot award in 2000 after a 30-goal haul in the Premier League.

Following this, he spent two years at Southampton between 2003 and 2005, netting 26 times in two seasons.

The now 51-year-old went on to enjoy spells in the West Midlands, first with Aston Villa, followed by West Brom and Birmingham City between 2005 and 2011.

Phillips then joined Blackpool, bagging 19 goals before heading to Crystal Palace where he managed a further seven strikes, including the winning goal in the 2013 Championship Play-Off final to earn the Eagles promotion to the Premier League.

His final season came in the 2013/14 campaign with Leicester, where he scored twice before announcing his retirement from football.

Phillips was agonisingly close to joining the Premier League’s famed 100 club, having ended his career with 93 top flight goals – the same tally as Leeds and Australian icon Mark Viduka.